Director, Sustainable Farming Science Program

Reports to: CGIAR Chief Scientist

Location: This position will be based in a duty station to be determined in a location with significant CGIAR operations relevant to the Program. Montpellier, shown above, is a default system setting and not the confirmed duty station.

Grade: SO8 / CG13 (Equivalent to UN D1)

Date Published: 24 March 2025

Closing Date for Applications: 15 April 2025 at 16:00 CEST.

About CGIAR

CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food-secure future. CGIAR science is dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources and ecosystem services. Its research is conducted closely with hundreds of partners, including national and regional research institutes, civil society organizations, academia, development organizations, and the private sector.

About the position

CGIAR has an ambitious mission to deliver science and innovations that advance the transformation of food, land and water systems in a climate crisis to reduce poverty and inequity, enhance food and nutrition security, and improve natural resources and ecosystem services. CGIAR’s Integrated Partnership operates as a federated group of Centers and the CGIAR System Organization, united by common values and principles, and committed to achieving synergies that enhance their individual and collective contributions to CGIAR’s mission.

CGIAR’s 2025—30 science and innovation Portfolio encompasses eight Science Programs, a Scaling for Impact Program, and three Accelerators. The Portfolio is designed to harness CGIAR’s collective capabilities to address the most pressing global challenges. It aims to foster deeper and broader programmatic integration across Centers and disciplines, enabling science and innovation at a greater scale with enhanced reach and impact.

The Sustainable Farming Science Program aims to achieve high productivity, resilience, and sustainability at scale through widely disseminating science-based socio-technical innovation bundles that offer integrated agronomic, plant health, and system-level advantages to farmers, helping to redesign their farming systems. Through partnerships with farmers, researchers, policymakers, and private sector actors, the program enhances livelihoods, protects biodiversity, and ensures food security while addressing global challenges like climate change and social inequality.

The Director, Sustainable Farming Science Program provides scientific leadership, adaptive management, and strategic alignment of the Program and its components as a coherent, joint undertaking that spans multiple CGIAR Centers, partners, and sources of funding.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Promotes that sustainable farming practices are at the forefront of addressing global challenges, such as climate change, food insecurity, and resource scarcity, while delivering tangible benefits to local farming systems promoting transformative solutions that enhance resilience, productivity, and inclusivity in global farming systems.
• Provides scientific and strategic leadership of the Program, ensuring continuous review and adaptive management of the Program’s vision, theory of change, and structure to maximize impact, relevance, and efficiency.
• Oversees Program execution, aligning activities with CGIAR’s overarching vision, mission, and 2030 outcomes, including developing and managing work plans and budgets for Program, and fostering alignment of relevant of other bilaterally funded projects and programs with the Program’s high-level outcomes and theory of change.
• Leads the Program’s Leadership team, comprising Area of Work Leads and Co-Leads, and Center Delegates defining a vision for the program and shared accountability.
• Actively participates in CGIAR’s Global Science Team, driving coordinated science and innovation leadership across the Portfolio to achieve collective impact.
• Guides and directs engagement with global enabling and engagement functions, a Program -level Independent Advisory Group, and CGIAR’s partnership-wide independent advisory and assurance bodies (i.e. Independent Science for Development Council, the Independent Advisory and Evaluation Service, the Standing Panel on Impact Assessment, and Internal Audit) combining scientific and political acumen.
• Acts as a spokesperson, engaging with partners, funders and – when required – CGIAR’s partnership-wide governing bodies on matters related to the Program, including the CGIAR System Council and CGIAR Integrated Partnership Board.
• Drives innovation and scaling efforts by fostering collaborative partnerships with global and regional stakeholders, including research institutions, policymakers, private sector actors, and farming communities.
• Directs the delivery, quality of science, and prioritization of activities and outputs, and assumes overall accountability for the use of such funds for their intended purpose under the Program.
• Establishes performance and results management of the Program, including the development of technical and financial reporting and the implementation of regular pause and reflect processes.
• Assigns and provides functional oversight of Area of Work Leads and Co-Leads and Program Management Unit staff in Centers.
• Delivers scientifically rigorous program outputs that are actionable and scalable, bridging the gap between cutting-edge research and practical applications in sustainable farming systems.
• Advances transformative change in sustainable farming practices that enhance resilience, productivity, and equity across global food systems.

Education and Experience

• Advanced degree (PhD or equivalent) in Agricultural Science, Agronomy, Sustainable Farming Systems, Plant Science, or a related field, with a specialization relevant to sustainable farming practices and systems.
• Postdoctoral experience or additional certifications in sustainable agriculture, or climate-smart practices are highly desirable.
• Demonstrated expertise in applying advanced technologies, such as precision agriculture, soil and crop modeling, artificial intelligence, and data-driven decision-making, to enhance sustainable farming systems.
• Proven track record of designing, implementing, and managing large-scale, interdisciplinary farming or agricultural programs across diverse geographies and socio-economic contexts.
• Familiarity with emerging tools and platforms for advancing sustainable agriculture, including agroecological approaches, digital agriculture, and innovations in land and water management.
• Extensive experience in resource mobilization, strategic partnership development, and financial oversight for complex, multi-stakeholder projects, ensuring alignment with strategic goals and efficient use of resources.

Key Competences

• Strategically aligning Program goals with CGIAR’s organizational strategies and global priorities in transforming sustainable farming systems.
• Strong strategic and adaptive thinking, with pragmatism required to make decisions that balance scientific ambition with operational feasibility.
• Systems thinking to understand interconnected challenges and design integrated solutions that maximize impact across farming systems.
• Effective communication with diverse stakeholders, including research partners, donors, policymakers, and private sector stakeholders, to articulate a compelling vision and drive engagement.
• Fostering collaboration and consensus, navigating diverse perspectives and influencing decision-making across multidisciplinary teams and multi-stakeholder networks to achieve shared objectives.
• Exceptional leadership skills with a proven ability to inspire and integrate multidisciplinary teams and manage talent, while promoting knowledge sharing, staff development and diversity.
• Adherence to the highest ethical standards, fostering trust and treating all people with respect.

Languages

Fluency in English essential to communicate in writing and speaking. Knowledge of a second language desirable. 

The selected staff member will be offered terms and conditions commensurate with the grade of the position, qualifications and experience.

Submitting Your Application

If you face challenges in submitting your application, please email recruitment@cgiar.org with the position title in the subject line.

Please note that shortlisted candidates will be contacted by our partner, SRI Executive.